Finland’s basic income program, which pays 2,000 Finns about $685 a month even if they find a job, will end in January after a request for more funding from the government to expand the program was denied.
The program has been touted as a way to get unemployed people to take temporary jobs and to provide a safety net for people between jobs. It also is supposted to help people who work in the gig economy where no set income is guaranteed.
“The eagerness of the government is evaporating,” Social Insurance Institution (Kela) experiment designer Olli Kangas said, the BBC reported. “I’m a little disappointed that the government decided not to expand it.”
Instead of renewing or expanding the program, Finland is exploring other ways to reform its social security and welfare programs, including introducing legislation that makes some unemployment benefits contingent on working at least 18 hours over a three-month period, The Guardian reported.
“Two years is too short a period to be able to draw extensive conclusions from such a big experiment,” Kangas said, The Guardian reported. “We should have had extra time and more money to achieve reliable results.”
Universal Basic Income appeals to some on the political left and right. The left hope to alleviate poverty and income inequality, while the right see a reduction in bureaucracy. The increasing threat of automation to many lower-wage jobs has also increased the interest in UBI programs.
Finnish Finance Minister Petteri Orpo said Finland is looking into other welfare programs like a universal credit system for when the basic income program ends, The Guardian reported.
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